Banh Xeo

I have this habit of trying out new things all the time at restaurants. So a couple of years ago when I'd gone with my friends to Pondicherry, we went to this café called Le Vietnam. Why would there be a Vietnamese café in a former French Colony? Well, as my friend informed me Vietnam was also a French Colony at one point.

I tried Banh Xeo there for the first time and came back quite underwhelmed. It looked really good, but I thought quite lacked the punch. Banh Xeo is essentially a rice crepe with fresh fillings and meat of your choice accompanied by Nuoc Cham, the dipping sauce I mentioned in an earlier post.

Recently I had a hankering for the funny looking crepe I had a while ago and looked up how to make it at home. Turns out, it's fairly simple and is quite delicious as well. I've made the crepe recipe for just two portions cos basically that's all I can consume at one point. This makes for a perfect light summer lunch, Fresh, crunchy, green and quite possibly healthy too!

Rice Crepes

1/4 cup  rice flour
1/2 cup  coconut milk
1/4 cup  water
1/8 tsp   cornflour
1 tsp      sugar
pinch    turmeric
pinch    salt

Mix everything together and chill in refrigerator for an hour or upto 24 hours. The resting time is essential

Fillings

10 shallots/ 1 onion sliced
100 g prawns
1 cup bean sprouts
1/2 cup coriander leaves
1tsp oil

Gently fry onions till golden brown. Drain and keep aside.
Cook prawns in same oil. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Remove from pan and keep aside.

Nuoc Cham
2 tbsp. Fish Sauce
2 tbsp. Lime juice
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 garlic cloves crushed
2 birds eye chilis chopped fine

Whisk everything together till the sugar is dissolved.

Assembly

To make Rice Crepes

Heat 9" non stick skillet over medium high heat.
Lightly stir the batter to mix the rice flour which may have settled to the bottom.
Pour 1/2 cup batter onto pan and quick swirl around to spread the entire pan.
When the bottom has turned slightly golden brown and crisp, fill one half of the crepe with fillings and fold over the other half.
Slide onto serving plate.
Proceed to make the second crepe.

Enjoy the crepes with the dipping sauce.